


Red

by Akasira



Category: Original Work
Genre: Death, Fear, Gen, Horror, Mental Instability, Mild Angst, OC, Suspense, humans are monsters too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5286341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasira/pseuds/Akasira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chi Vernarin should be used to waking up in hospitals by now, but it still tends to scare him to death. Especially having to wake up because of a nightmare, no; night terror. He's afraid of everything. The voice in his head, and the voice of a woman who tries to befriend him because of an act of kindness he does out of sheer impulse. Demons shouldn't be scared of anything, so he thinks.</p>
<p>However, monsters can be human too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

**Author's Note:**

> This was an assignment in my english class! A short/fear narrative. This work is unedited cx hope you guys like it.

He awoke with a jolt, his hands trembling and his pulse quivering each second with his rising anxiety. He could have sworn he yelled, hissed, anything-- though nothing stirred within the room in protest. The walls were painted a clean white. No other furniture was present in the room other than a single chair, and a wooden nightstand next to him. He could’ve sworn there was a window. His mind was a haze. This wasn’t his room… It didn’t have the same comforting feeling, and instead of wrapping him in the imaginary warmth that his actual house provided him; it was like a stretch of multiple hands were crawling about his body. Chi Vernarin recognized the place he was in, and he heaved out a sigh. A hospital room. Drawing out a quiet breathe, he prayed to the Lord to calm down. His mind swam with the need to escape the secluded room, it was like he was locked in there. Chi scanned himself, felt his face, and his cheeks were cold. There was a mirror across the room. Staring at himself in it, his hands were stilled on his cheeks, and it was like his face was drained of color.

That nightmare did a number on him, _hell_ , he called it a night terror. It wasn’t like those normal childish dreams, where a kid is screaming to their mother, “Mother! There’s a monster under my bed!”. In these dreams, he felt paralyzed, unable to move his body in the dreams that overcame him during slumber. Sometimes they were a blur, and when he woke up he was so afraid that they were real. He despised little movements, or slight sounds shortly after he wakes up. He hated it. It felt like people were going to knock down the doors, climb in through windows, and drag him off to somewhere he could actually call _hell_.

It was a while before he decided to drag himself out of bed, not bothering to check up on who might be outside the hospital room. The hospital gown they had changed him into stuck to his skin from the sweat. The light shivering from fear ceased, and now he made no sound as he carefully slipped on his own clothes which were folded in a near pile on the chair. The clipboard on the nightstand caught his eye, after folding the gown and setting it on the bed, he swooped it up and his eyes read over the data. It was all about him.

_Chi Vernarin. Twenty years old. Weighing one-hundred and forty-six pounds. Standing at an even height of six feet. Blood type - ?. Unusual red eyes (appear to be contacts). Black hair, almost a navy-blue ish color. Fair skinned._

He let out a snort. That’s right. He’s been here before. He let his eyes narrow at the scribbles of data that were written underneath his characteristics.

_MENTALITY UNSTABLE._

_Schizophrenic. Bipolar Disorder (?). Aggressive tendencies. Generalized Anxiet…._

The rest were scribbles he couldn’t read. He took the papers, and with a flick of his wrist he tore them in half. Nobody needed to know this information. It was dangerous for them to know. Didn’t they ever heard of privacy? Plus. They had the audacity to say he was _unstable_. The male glowered, at nothing in particular. Humans were dangerous. They can’t be trusted… Nothing good comes from it. Nothing. They’ll hurt you… Perhaps someone would’ve thought it was ridiculous if he said these things out loud. Of course, the thing they wouldn’t know is that he in fact isn’t particularly _human_. He was a demon, and it wasn’t a hospital he was checked into, it was an _asylum_. He was always getting checked into there, not on his own accord. But it was time to leave, again.

It didn’t take long before he was out of the building, and heck, if he could, that would be the last time he would be there. A demon could always dream.

The weather complex of the area wasn’t that difficult to understand either. It snowed, rained, and it was at least always below thirty degrees fahrenheit. Sometimes little icicles liked to form below people’s noses, like in those movie. It might’ve been cold, but Chi didn’t come unprepared when going outside. He had a jacket, boots, and fingerless gloves (they could have been real gloves, but they were still gloves, nonetheless). Strolling the empty streets, the light sprinkling of snow was perpetual. He hummed to himself, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. It was as though nothing could disturb his newfound mood. However in his mind, jinxes did tend to screw him over. The moment he thought of his peaceful walk back, undisturbed, a quiet wailing directed his attention to the opposite side of the street. He paused in his steps, and he heard the constant shuffling of feet. He wasn’t alone-- he wasn’t alone ever. He could always feel the presence of his inner demon creeping up on him, whispers foul ideas into his ear, etching vile schemes into the one part of his brain that liked to listen to the dark entity.

He swallowed nervously, and when his eyes locked onto the scene he sucked in a breath. The remotely humane side of him wanted to claw behind his eyes to see, to feel his pulse that was increasing. His hands buried in his pockets clenched into fists, and he grit his teeth.

_Damn it all._

He wanted to shout, and people doing it in public nonetheless. What his eyes laid upon was a scene that was deemed obscure to his eyes. An assault, two older men trying to drag a younger girl with them into an ally. That meant anything but peaceful. Chi could hear her hiss, and way she twisted within their grasps, lashing out with everything she had. It was clear that the woman would not go down without a fight, or without them getting a bloody nose or a broken jaw. Chi felt goosebumps rise on his skin, and his palms were beginning to sweat. Even though his mind was beginning to race, he could listen to everything.

“No! Let go, will you? Don’t you two have the decency to not lay your filthy hands on a lady?” Chi could hear the young woman say through gritted teeth, as she scrambled out of the grasp of the two men who continued to loom over her.

“And let a pretty thing like you, run away from us? That’s funny, girl,” he heard one of the men say, lurching forward and he enclosed a hand around the woman’s ankle. She emit an audible shriek. The demon watched her kick and scream, as a hand was clamped over her mouth.

He twitched.

_This is wrong._

He watched a tear slide down the girl’s cheek.

_But she’s a human._

His knuckles were growing white from being clenched.

_Sh e wants hel...p,, she wants to be..saved. but she's a HUMAN.Human..man..it’s cold. it's cold. was it always this cold? What month is it?_

Chi could feel anger festering up, great enough to shake his very insides. To make his bones shake. Human. It was a humane act. He wanted to do this. No, he _needed_ to. His very mind was screaming at him to take the very risk what would bite him later.

Before he-- or his demon could stop him, Chi already felt himself taking off in a sprint towards the two men, who were now alerted of his presence. He could see their eyes widening, and they threw the girl to the side into a concrete wall, putting their fists up to defend himself against the mad man. The demon ducked underneath the swing one of them tried to throw, sliding under and bringing his foot out; lashing out against the taller one. He planted his heel against his stomach, almost launching himself off and swinging his fist into the other man who tried to land a blow on him first. Chi tumbled, scrambling on the cold, snow ridden ground to get up. He felt a foot dig into his hand that was planted on the ground, putting intense pressure and he could’ve sworn he heard something crack.

“-- Don’t _touch_ me!” He hissed out, bringing his body up and rolling into the other’s leg so he would step off his hand. Chi was met with a punch to the gut, and he coughed up blood. The red substance splattered on the ground, and got up and away from the two men who smirked at him. Chi’s eyes widened at the blood, wiping some off his lips.

_Red._

Chi could feel his lips curve into a smile.

_That’s my favorite color…_

His smile widened even further.

He lashed out again, bringing his foot up and kicking both of the men back before rushing over, scooping the clearly panicking woman into his arms and he fled, leaving the two to let out a string of curses after him. Chi never looked at her face, and she only seemed to stay quiet. She buried her face into the demon’s chest, and Chi could’ve sworn the demon deep inside his mind wanted to break free and slap him for his ignorance.

When Chi swore he was finally safe, he had to sit down on the bench that was so conveniently placed. He tried to catch his breath, setting the girl down next to him and slumping in his seat on the honestly uncomfortable wooden bench. When Chi catches his breath, he takes the time to now look at the girl. She’s staring at him. Her eyes are some of the bluest he’s ever seen, like the ocean's waves on a beach in the middle of summer. They take him back to better times, before he didn’t need to worry about being handled like a puppet on a string. His gaze looks elsewhere, eyes locked on his palms now. His knuckles were a bit swollen. He could hear a faint chuckle from the girl, as she leaned over a bit at him. Her features knit tightly in genuine concern.

“Are you alright…? I know I’m supposed to say something like, ‘thanks for saving me’, first but your knuckles don’t look good… Neither do you. You look pale, but thank you for saving me...I didn’t think anyone would help,” she told him quiet, her voice was soft. She leaned back against the backside of the bench.

Chi slowly shook his head, head up to look at her. He merely shrugged, but he looked confused. He actually looked pretty confused.

_Why is she thanking me for helping her… Humans don’t do that._

It was all he’s ever known.

“Did I do anything special to make you thank me?” Chi whispered in reply, and he held out his injured hand, and he tried to curl his fingers. He winced, and his gaze turned away from her once again.

She looked shocked at his response.

“Well I mean…! You saved me and all, that gives me enough reason to thank you,” She suddenly held out a hand to Chi, puzzling him further. She introduced herself properly, “Cass. Cassidy Heartfeld. Pleased to make your acquaintance!” She looked cheerful.

Chi hesitantly brings his hand in, and he pokes hers.

_Why’s her hand out… If I touch it again, is she gonna rip one of my fingers off…? Is she plotting something…? Why does she look so happy…?_

Various thoughts raced through his mind, and he seemed paralyzed in that spot. It seemed as though Cassidy took it upon herself to entwine their hands and shake them. She stood up, head tilted to the side and she offered a smile out of sheer kindness.

“Come on, you can tell me your name later. We’re burning daylight just standing here. To show my thanks, I’ll take you out to coffee. Yes, it sounds like one of the most cliche things ever, but that’s all I can afford for us at the moment, come on,” Cassidy’s rambling on, and Chi can only properly register the word _coffee_ , before he’s dragged out of his seat and is being pulled down the street. His body is moving on its own, following her, but his brain is screaming, DANGER.

He kept hearing whispering, even though no one was talking. He kept hearing things, and he could feel things tug on his sleeves trying to pull him back even though all he did was keep walking forward.

_LET GO OF HER HAND._

_SHE’S GOING TO TRICK YOU AND KILL YOU AND YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE UNLESS YOU LET GO OF HER HAND AND--_

_“Shut up,”_ Chi cannot believe the words that come out of his mouth, and Cass stops, and stares at him with a perplexed look plastered on her face. She looks a bit sorrowful.

“Sorry, did I do something?” She asks out of concern.

The voices want him to say, _yes_. The thing Chi actually says is a simple “no”.

She carries another smile, and continues to walk with him into the small little coffee shop at the end of the block. The bells ring pleasantly as they both enter, the snow he managed to catch on his jacket begins to melt as soon as he steps inside. Cassidy leads him to a small table by the window, and she tells him he can order whatever he wanted. He doesn’t object.

The demon quietly scans the menu, and is feeling uneasy with the calming atmosphere. It didn’t feel dangerous, but it made him nervous nonetheless. He pushed the menu towards Cass, and he pointed to what he wanted. She clapped her hands together, and it was mildly alarming to him. He almost jumped, but Cass only laughed in reply.

“Relax, silly, I’ll go get the food and all that jazz,” her smile returns to her lips, as she practically hops out of her seat and over to the counter.

He tried to relax, but Chi’s nerves were still running wild. His heartbeat thrumming in his chest, threatening to burst. When he shut his eyes, he was snatched and taken back to somewhere else in time. All he saw was himself, a younger version of himself at that-- he was holding someone’s hand… Someone’s hand… That was all. A body was slumped on the ground next to him. He killed him--her? Them. He couldn’t identify whose body it was, but nonetheless the color around his younger self seemed to fade to grey.

Chi twitched, snapped back into the dull reality. He looked startled. Gazing around, he saw that Cassidy was standing next to him, grasping the coffee in her hands. She looked worried. Setting the coffee down, she proceeded to sit back down in her chair next to him, taking a sip of coffee.

“Are you alright, _stranger_?” She emit a small laugh. “You haven’t exactly told me your name yet. but that’s alright if you don’t want to…”

Chi blinked.

“Chi Vernarin…” He mumbled quietly in reply, and he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Cass merely smiled. She leaned forward on her elbows, studying him, watching him awkwardly drink his coffee.

“Well, what do you know. Nice to meet you Chi!” Cassidy looked overly enthusiastic about this whole ordeal. It was the starting of a conversation, with some awkward replies from true, small talk nudged into the mix. It took them an hour to finish, and when Chi gazed out the window once again he saw it was getting dark.

“... It’s late,” the demon mumbled, “I should get going.”

When he started to get out of his seat, Cassidy leaned over and took ahold of his hand with a gentle look in her eyes, and with that she said, “I’ll walk you home… You mentioned you lived in the woods, right?”

_I did?_

Cassidy had payed for their drinks, and she once again yanked Chi out of his seat and dragged him out of the cozy little coffee shop. It was cold. At night, the weather only worsened. But it was only evening, the sun was just beginning to go down. the snow covered the ground like a blanket.

Chi pulled back his hand once they were at the edge of the forest. He seemed hesitant to go with the stranger he only knew for a little over an hour. But she was offering… That wasn’t bad, right? Drawing a heavy breath, Chi walked with her into the forest. The trees were looming over them, casting shadows that Chi could’ve sworn moved out the corner of his eyes.

“... Why are you being so nice to me?” He stopped, and they were almost halfway there. He could barely see his house, the old, run down looking cabin, the wood looking an ash grey-- at least, from a distance.

Turning, the female stared at him. Her genuine surprise-- it had turned to sheer sympathy. Sympathy for how confused Chi really was, how his mind tried screaming at him to get away, and his own body threatened to betray him. He was focused on the snow painted ground.

Cass took a step closer, and with the only words she said, caused Chi to scream, to utter a noise that reflected so many broken emotions. Terror. It was real terror.

“... It’s because I’m your friend, Chi.”

_Friend. Friend. Frien…d… danger… DANGER… YOU...ARE...NOT...MY...FRIEND…_

_Human. What does that mean? You’re trying to hurt me, aren’t you? You betrayed me._

With a leap, hands suddenly closed around the girl’s neck, and she seemed to choke on her own shock. Chi’s eyes were narrowed, lips curled into a snarl.

“You… Liar. Liar. Don’t talk to me… Why are you trying to put ideas in my head? That’s all you humans ever do… You lie… You’re going to hurt me… Cass… No more…” Chi mumbled quietly, some of the words were incoherent.

Taking one hand, he withdrew a knife from his pocket, and his body moved on his own.

If Chi had to ever choose his favorite color, it would be _red_.

_Red_ , for her bloodshot eyes, _red_ , for the way the crimson liquid trickled between his fingers from the wound that was now inflicted on her neck. _Red_ , for the way her body crumbled to the ground.

_He killed the girl who tried to befriend him._

_Because he thought it was a lie._

The demon dropped his knife, and could feel his inner demon cradling his soul, whispering ‘good job’, in his ears. He did it yet again. But he felt no remorse, because it felt right.

Chi bent down, kissing the soft skin of her hand, before standing up. With his hands stained in crimson, he bid her farewell. Farewell to the sin that his mind thought up. But no, all he cared about was that he got to see his favorite color once again.

_RED._

 

 


End file.
